Naked mole-rat DNA repair ability could unlock human longevity

Scientists have identified a protein which repairs defective DNA strands by using undamaged ones as templates. The same protein in humans promotes cancers and shortens life expectancy. The mole rat has managed to evolve a version of the protein which does the opposite

Naked mole rat — can live for up to 37 years. Picture: Roland Gockel

To lie in the nude is not very rude, but to lie in the House is obscene — 'Profumo Scandal' limerick

A new term is being bandied about... ‘nudification’.

What a strange love-hate relationship we have with our bodies! The Venus of Willendorf, a Palaeolithic Playboy-style pin-up, was sculpted more than 20,000 years ago. Elegant nudes have featured in western art ever since then.

The nude, as an artistic subject, has entirely respectable credentials. Yet few of us are happy to appear naked in public.

Distaste of nudity affects our attitude to wild creatures. We like mammals and birds to be covered in fur and feather. Everyone loves squirrels with their glorious bushy tails. Their fellow rodents the rats, however, inspire disgust and loathing. Rats rummage in filth and carry disease, but it’s the sight of their snake-like naked tails which sends shivers up the spine.

One mammal is a card-carrying nudist. The naked mole rat, also known as the ‘sand puppy’, lives in Sub-Saharan Africa. Less than 10 centimetres long from nose to tail, its wrinkly skin is pink. Despite the name, it is not entirely naked — there are whiskers on the face and bristles on the tail. Short legs enable it to move forward and backwards in the narrow tunnels where it dwells.

It may be one of the world’s ugliest creatures, but appearance scarcely matters to an animal that spends almost its entire life in darkness underground. A mole-rat only ventures above ground to push out the soil it displaces when digging, or to find feeding locations for new colonies.

A naked mole rat spends almost its entire life in darkness underground

Oxygen is in short supply underground, so the sand puppy’s metabolism can be exceedingly low. Surviving in atmospheres containing 80% carbon dioxide, it may even lose consciousness. The breathing rate can fall to fifty cycles per minute. At low temperatures, mole rats huddle together for warmth.

But appearances are deceptive... this ugly duckling has evolved extraordinary abilities. Individuals have been known to live for up to 37 years, many times longer than other creatures of their size.

Few humans want to live forever. Enduring the slings and arrows of outrageous Fortune for three score and ten years is quite enough but, fearful of departing, we linger on as long as we can.

Scientists have struggled to discover how the sand puppy manages to keep the grim reaper at bay. Human life-expectancy has increased as a result of their efforts, but it doesn’t match that of the humble burrower. Nor is longevity the mole rat’s only extraordinary accomplishment: it has developed immunity to cancer and, apparently, it’s also free from pain.

Recent discoveries have begun to unlock the elusive creature’s secrets. Strings of DNA become damaged with age. A team from Shanghai’s Tonji University has now identified a protein which repairs defective strands by using undamaged ones as templates. The same protein in humans promotes cancers and shortens life expectancy. The mole rat, somehow, has managed to evolve a version of the protein which turns that around and does the opposite.

Thanks to the ungainly little naturist, the legendary Tir na nÓg may become a reality some day?

• Yu Chen et al. A cGas-mediated mechanism in naked mole-rats potentiates DNA repairs and delays aging. Science. 2025